Current Affairs 22nd January 2019

Current Affairs 22nd January 2019 - Important Points

• Logo for Tripura tea unveiled by -Biplab Kumar Deb
• Tamil Nadu Defence Industrial Corridor Inaugurated by - Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman 
• Indians can visit Nepal & Bhutan producing Aadhaar as - Id Proof
• National conference on Self Reliance in Defence Production at - Hyderabad
• Indian-American Gurinder Singh Khalsa Presented with - Rosa Park Trailblazer award
• Rio de Janeiro recognised as World Capital of Architecture 2020 by - UN Educational,
  Scientific & Cultural Organisation
• Bharat Ratna CNR Rao chosen for first Sheikh Saud International Prize for Materials on - 18th January 2019

Current Affairs 22nd January 2019 - Details

Logo for Tripura tea unveiled by -Biplab Kumar Deb

The CM of Tripura Biplab Kumar Deb revealed the authorized logo of Tripura Tea. The Tripura Tea logo
features Neermahal, which is the iconic landmark of Tripura.
More about Neermahal

• Neermahal was constructed by then Tripura King Bir Bikram Kishore Debbarman Manikya in the middle of Rudrasagar Lake, as his summer home. It is situated in Melaghar, about 53 kilometres west of Agartala.
• This is the largest water palace in India & 1 of 2 water palaces in India. The other water palace of India is situated at Jal Mahal in Rajasthan.
• Climatic Conditions favourable for Tea Cultivation
  -A temperature of 21 to 29 degree Celsius.
  -Yearly Rainfall of 150-200 centimetres.
  -The soil must be rich in humus because tea shrubs need fertile mountain soil mixed with lime & iron.
  -Well drained land to avoid stagnation of water.
  Tripura & Tea cultivation
• The tea cultivation in Tripura started at Hiracherra estate in Unakoti district in 1916. Currently,
• Tripura is the 2nd largest tea producing state in the Northeast & harvests 10 million kilograms of tea yearly with an area of 6430 hectares under cultivation.

Tamil Nadu Defence Industrial Corridor Inaugurated by - Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman 

The Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman initiated the Tamil Nadu Defence Industrial Corridor.
During the induction, investments worth more than Rupees 3038 crore in this defence corridor were
declared. Lockheed Martin, a global security giant, also declared its intention to invest in the corridor.
More about the Corridor

• It is also known as Tamil Nadu Defence Production Quad as the nodal cities of Chennai, Hosur, Salem, Coimbatore & Tiruchirappalli form a 4-sided with one of them at the centre.
• The 5 nodal cities already have current defence ecosystem in the form of ordnance factory boards,
  vendors working with defence PSUs, & other associated industries.
• Together with serving in accelerated growth & regional industry accumulation, the defence corridor will also enable a well-planned & efficient industrial base which will result into increased defence production in the nation & the region.
• The corridor will benefit the industry to assimilate with the global supply chain of Defence production.
• Tamil Nadu Defence Industrial Corridor would be a specialised facility of aero component production.
• Tamil Nadu Defence Industrial Corridor is the nation’s 2nd defence industrial corridor after the 1st one was released in Aligarh, UP August past year.

National conference on Self Reliance in Defence Production at - Hyderabad

National Conference on Self Reliance in Defence Production is held at Hyderabad. The National
Conference is being organised by Forum for Integrated National Security in connotation with Indigenous Defence Entrepreneurs Association.
Self-Reliance in Defence Production

Self-Reliance in defence production in India is a matter of great reputation to attain multidimensional
credible deterrence & to protect national interests in fast-changing international ties with respect to geopolitical and geo-economic influence on our country’s rightful place in the world order.
Under Make in India initiative various creativities taken towards attaining self-reliance in defence
production, are:

• Predilection for procurement from Indian vendors under the Defence Procurement Procedure.
• Universalization of Make procedure.
• Introduction of an easy procedure for Make II sub-category.
• Liberalization of the licensing command.
• Changes in FDI policy by increasing the cap on FDI in the defence sector,
• Simplification of the export process.
• Rationalization of defence offset norms etc.
• Strategic Partnership Model which imagines the founding of long-term strategic corporations
  with Indian units through a transparent & competitive procedure, wherein they would tie-up with global Original Equipment Manufacturers to pursue technology transfers to set-up domestic production infrastructure & supply chains.

Indians can visit Nepal & Bhutan producing Aadhaar as - Id Proof

The Union Home Ministry has pinched the travel document guidelines for visiting Nepal & Bhutan.
According to the new guidelines, Indian can travel to Nepal & Bhutan by using Aadhaar as ID proof but this is only for those Indians who are aged under 15 &  more than 65 years.
Indians other than in those age limit will not be able to utilise Aadhaar to travel for Nepal & Bhutan.
Open Door Policy

India has an open-door policy with Nepal & Bhutan. Indians don’t need a passport to travel to either of these nations. Indians can enter these nations by showing any of the satisfactory photo ID documents like Passport, Voter ID card and many more.
Reason behind the Open-Door Policy

• India’s open-door policy with Nepal & Bhutan is in gratitude with the shared history, culture & old age interpersonal relations of Indians with the residents of these nations.
• Article 7 the 1950 Indo-Nepal Treaty of Peace & Friendship and the 1949 Treaty of Friendship between India & Bhutan permits free movement of persons between the two countries on a reciprocal basis.
• Hence as a consequence of these 2 treaties stated above Indians doesn’t essential a visa to enter Nepal or Bhutan.

Indian-American Gurinder Singh Khalsa Presented with - Rosa Park Trailblazer award

Indian-American Businessperson Gurinder Singh Khalsa has been bestowed with Rosa Park Trailblazer
award for his campaign to encourage United States authorities to modify policy towards Sikh headgear.
Fight for Justice & Faith

Gurinder Singh Khalsa was not permitted to board an aeroplane in 2007 due to his refusal to eradicate
the turban. Strongminded to stand up for his faith & fight for justice, Gurinder Singh Khalsa presented the issue all the way to the United States Congress, convincing Transportation & Security Administration to upgrade its headgear policy towards the Sikh community. As a result, Sikhs can now wear their turban over airport security in the United States.
Turbans

• There precise origin of Turban is not known but there are situations to Turban dating back almost 4000 years from Mesopotamia & ancient India.
• Turban is a type of headgear grounded on cloth winding & wearing turbans is most common among the Sikh Community.
• Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th & last human Guru of the faith started  Khalsa  &nasked the associates of Khalsa to uphold 5 articles of faith, mentioned to as the 5 K’s.

Rio de Janeiro recognised as World Capital of Architecture 2020 by - UN Educational,
Scientific & Cultural Organisation

Rio de Janeiro has been announced as “World Capital of Architecture” for 2020 by The UN Educational,
Scientific & Cultural Organisation.
Rio de Janeiro will be holding the World Congress of the International Union of Architects in July 2020.
The subject of the 2020 World Congress of the International Union of Architects is ‘All the worlds. Just
one world.’
UN Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organisation in the release informed that “Concluded the range & excellence of its activities, the World Capital of Architecture in Rio de Janeiro will validate the critical
role of architecture & culture in supportable urban development.”
World Capital of Architecture

• The World Capital of Architecture initiative underlines the common obligation of UN Educational,
  Scientific & Cultural Organisation & the UIA to reserve architectural heritage in the urban background.
• UN Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organisation entitles the World Capital of Architecture according to the partnership contract with the UIA.
• The World Capital of Architecture also swarms the UIA’s World Congress, a programme that occurs every 3 years.
• The World Capital of Architecture goals to become an International forum for discussions about pressing global contests from the standpoints of culture, cultural heritage, urban planning & architecture.

Bharat Ratna CNR Rao chosen for first Sheikh Saud International Prize for Materials on - 18th January 2019

Eminent Indian scientist, Chintamani Nagesa Ramachandra Rao, commonly known as CNR Rao, was on
January 18th, 2019 was selected for the 1st Sheikh Saud International Award for Materials Research by the Centre for Advanced Materials of the United Arab Emirates.
The prize will be presented to Rao by Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, the ruler of one of United Arab Emirates’ 7 emirates Ras Al Khaima at the International Workshop on Advanced Materials on February 25th, 2019.
The Sheikh Saud International Prize committee unanimously decided to award Professor Rao of the Jawaharlal Nehru for Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bengaluru. The award consists of a plaque & cash prize of USD 100000.
More about C N R Rao

• Chintamani Nagesa Ramachandra Rao was born on 30th June 1934, who has worked mainly in solid-state & structural chemistry.
• Chintamani Nagesa Ramachandra Rao has honorary doctorates from 60 universities from worldwide.
• He has authored about 1600 research papers & 50 scientific books.
• Few of his areas of research comprise transition metal oxides &other extended inorganic solids, metal-insulator transitions, Nano-materials including Nanotubes & graphene, artificial photosynthesis & hydrogen generation by photocatalysis & thermal means.
• In 2014, he was bestowed with the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award in India, making him the 3rd scientist after C.V. Raman & A.P.J. Abdul Kalam to receive the prize.
• Chintamani Nagesa Ramachandra Rao has also been conferred with “Padma Shri” in 1974, “Padma Vibhushan” in 1985 &“Karnataka Ratna” in 2001, among other awards.